Waterfront driving range

ABSTRACT

A driving range for golf or other games employing aerial projectile in which an open mesh net is waterborne, anchored in position, and extends from the shoreline and out the required distance on the water to form a driving range. The installation additionally includes a multiplicity of balls, or other projectiles, and a recovery unit that recovers the balls that fall through the net and into a funnel-shaped portion thereof and conducts the balls back to the land based portion of the driving range. The recovery unit includes a submerged ball return conduit connected to the funnel shaped portion. Spaced valves in the conduit form a compartment which may evacuated by air pressure. Golf balls roll down the conduit by gravity to a recovery chamber and are lifted to a land-based station by a conveyor.

United States Patent Garland [45] Mar. 14, 1972 [54] WATERFRONT DRIVING RANGE [72} Inventor: Charles Garland, 116 Crownpoint Road, Williamsburg, Va. 23185 22 Filed: Sept. 23, 1970 211 Appl.No.: 74,581

Primary Examiner-George J. Marlo Attorney-Nolte & Nolte [5 7] ABSTRACT A driving range for golf or other games employing aerial projectile in which an open mesh net is waterborne, anchored in position, and extends from the shoreline and out the required distance on the water to form a driving range. The installation additionally includes a multiplicity of balls, or other projectiles, and a recovery unit that recovers the balls that fall through the net and into a funnel-shaped portion thereof and conducts the balls back to the land based portion of the driving range. The recovery unit includes a submerged ball return conduit connected to the funnel shaped portion. Spaced valves in the conduit form a compartment which may evacuated by air pressure. Golf balls roll down the conduit by gravity to a recovery chamber and are lifted to a land-based station by a conveyor.

10 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures Patented March 14, 1972 3,649,025

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR K /MRzZSQAQL 4ND BY QMzMmza ATTORNEYS WATERFRONT DRIVING RANGE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is common knowledge that at the present time there is a scarcity of large tracts of land in metropolitan and suburban areas. The land tracts that are available are exceedingly costly and therefore are not economically feasible for use as golf driving ranges. Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to construct a golf driving range that is located on the water adjacent to a land-based teeing off site. Thus, the property for the driving range maybe installed in densely populated areas at a lower cost than large acreage flatland. It should be noted also that other types of games may be played on the range built in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.

In order to considerably reduce the cost of constructing a driving range and to further make use of relatively large bodies of water, such as lakes and rivers, the present invention contemplates the use of a large net floating on the surface of the water adjacent to the shoreline. The net functions as a target for a driven golf ball. Thus, the trajectory of the driven golf ball is such that it falls on the net, and due to the funnel shape of the net the balls drop through the net and into the funnel which leads to a ball return device. The ball return device, when operative, returns the driven golf balls to the land-based portion of the waterfront driving range.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a waterfront golf driving range which is inexpensive to construct and provides for expansion as required.

A further object of the present invention is the provision of a ball return mechanism that is reliable in returning the driven ball to the land-based portion of the installation.

Another object of the present invention is a golf driving range which has a plurality of floating markers attached to the net at various distances from the teeing-off land-based location, in order to mark the respective distances from the teeingoff pad to the respective marker.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings which form a part of this application and in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic top plan view of the waterfront driving range constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the net and the mooring details thereof;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the waterfront driving range including the ball recovery system; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the details of construction of the golf ball recovery structure and mechanism.

Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows the overall plan view of the waterfront driving range in which a large net is held in place floating on a body of water W adjacent to the shoreline S. The means for holding the net in place comprises a plurality of spaced anchors 12, each connected by anchor line 14 to the net 10. It will be apparent from FIG. 1 that the anchors 12 are so placed as to prevent any drifting of the net in the water. In addition, a series of buoyant floats 16 are secured to the periphery of the net and held in place by mooring lines 18, thus keeping the net afloat. It should also be noted that the net 10 is provided with a series of floating range markers 19 at various distances from the driving tees 44 in order to indicate to the person driving the golf ball the distance it has been driven on the range.

The floating net 10 is of the type generally used in the commercial fishing industry and is constituted of synthetic fibers with a mesh of a suitable size to permit golf balls to pass therethrough. The buoyant floats 16 are also commercially available and are preferably constituted of plastic.

The net 10, as seen in FIG. 2, is also provided with weights 20 placed at various locations along the bottom of the net, and it will be noted from FIG. 3 that the net 10 assumes a funnel or conical shape whereby the bottom of the funnel has an opening 22 to which is attached a ball recovery pipe 24 that is sloped angularly downwardly to a recovery chamber 26. It will be observed that part of the ball recovery pipe 24, as well as recovery chamber 26, are buried in the shore area of the driving range.

The golf ball recovery mechanism is clearly shown in FIG. 4 in which the recovery pipe 24 is provided with a pair of spaced remotely controlled valves.28 and 30 having a section 240 of the pipe 24 therebetween. Air inlet 32 is shown connected into section 24a of the pipe 24. The air inlet 32 is supplied by a source of compressed air (not shown). An air outlet pipe 34, having a check valve 36, is shown located adjacent to valve 30. The section 24a of the pipe 24 is periodically purged of water and is directly connected to recovery chamber 26. An endless elevating-type conveyor 38 is housed in the chamber 26 and is provided with a plurality of ball receiving trays 40. A house or other enclosure 42 is situated on ground level at the shore above the recovery chamber 26 and the conveyor 38, whereby the balls driven out on the net 10 are finally returned to the house.

The mechanism, particularly shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, operates as follows: The ball B which is driven from a driving tee 44 falls on the net 10 and passes through one of the openings in the mesh of the net and then drops into the bottom of the net which has a mesh size that is not large enough to permit the golf ball to drop through. Consequently, the ball rolls down the funnel-shaped net to the opening 22 of the pipe 24 and into the pipe 24. The golf balls will then accumulate against the disc of valve 28. When a sufflcient number of golf balls B have been so collected the valve 28 is opened remotely and the balls B all roll into section 24a of the pipe 24. The valve 28 is then closed forming a sealed chamber between valves 28 and 30 and the water in section 240 of the pipe is purged out of this section by means of compressed air being forced in air inlet 32 and the pipe section 24a. Thus, the entrained water is forced out of outlet pipe 34 and this procedure is observed on land by suitable pressure gage instrumentation (not shown). Thereafter, the check valve 36 in the outlet pipe 34 is closed thereby sealing the external water from entering the water-purged section 24a of the recovery pipe 24.

When the valve 30 is thereafter opened the golf balls B roll down the inclined section 24b of the pipe 24 by gravity to the recovery chamber 26 to be lifted by the trays 40 on the conveyor 38 to the ball return house 42 on the shoreline. It should be apparent that the balls B returned to the house 42 are available for use again on the waterfront driving range.

What is claimed is:

l. A waterfront driving range for golf balls or the like comprising a land-based station adjacent to the waters edge for driving golf balls, a floating target sheet having relatively large dimensions, means anchoring said sheet in the water and within the range of distances of driven golf balls, said driven golf balls having a trajectory whereby said golf balls fall on said sheet, and a ball return device connected to said sheet for returning said driven golf balls to said land-based station.

2. A waterfront driving range according to claim 1 wherein said sheet is an open-mesh net.

3. A waterfront driving range according to claim 2 wherein said net is funnel-shaped, and a ball return chute is located at the bottom of said funnel and extends shoreward.

4. A waterfront driving range according to claim 3 wherein said ball return chute is a conduit provided with a pair of spaced valves forming a separate compartment therebetween in said ball return chute for storing golf balls.

5. A waterfront driving range according to claim 4 further comprising a source of air pressure, pipe means for conducting said air under pressure to said compartment, and outlet means in said compartment for evacuating the water therein upon the injection of said pressurized air into said compartment.

6. A waterfront driving range according to claim 3 wherein said ball return chute returns said balls to the land-based station of said driving range.

10. A Waterfront driving range for aerial projectiles comprising a land-based station adjacent to the waters edge for hitting and driving said aerial projectiles, a floating open-mesh net target having relatively large dimensions, means anchoring said net in the water and within the range of distances of driven aerial projectiles, said projectiles having a trajectory whereby the aerial projectiles fall on said net, and a projectile return device connected to said net target for returning said projectiles to said landbased station. 

1. A waterfront driving range for golf balls or the like comprising a land-based station adjacent to the water''s edge for driving golf balls, a floating target sheet having relatively large dimensions, means anchoring said sheet in the water and within the range of distances of driven golf balls, said driven golf balls having a trajectory whereby said golf balls fall on said sheet, and a ball return device connected to said sheet for returning said driven golf balls to said land-based station.
 2. A waterfront driving range according to claim 1 wherein said sheet is an open-mesh net.
 3. A waterfront driving range according to claim 2 wherein said net is funnel-shaped, and a ball return chute is located at the bottom of said funnel and extends shoreward.
 4. A waterfront driving range according to claim 3 wherein said ball return chute is a conduit provided with a pair of spaced valves forming a separate compartment therebetween in said ball return chute for storing golf balls.
 5. A waterfront driving range according to claim 4 further comprising a source of air pressure, pipe means for conducting said air under pressure to said compartment, and outlet means in said compartment for evacuating the water therein upon the injection of said pressurized air into said compartment.
 6. A waterfront driving range according to claim 3 wherein said ball return chute returns said balls to the land-based station of said driving range.
 7. A waterfront driving range as claimed in claim 6 wherein said ball return chute is sloped toward the shoreline whereby the golf balls are returned by gravity shoreward.
 8. A waterfront driving range according to claim 1 further comprising a plurality of floats supporting said sheet, and a plurality of anchors for holding said sheet in a predetermined waterborne position.
 9. A waterfront driving range according to claim 1 wherein said floating target sheet is securely held adjacent to the shoreline, and provided with distance markers secured thereto at the appropriate locations.
 10. A waterfront driving range for aerial projectiles comprising a land-based station adjacent to the water''s edge for hitting and driving said aerial projectiles, a floating open-mesh net target having relatively large dimensions, means anchoring said net in the water and within the range of distances of driven aerial projectiles, said projectiles having a trajectory whereby the aerial projectiles fall on said net, and a projectile return device connected to said net target for returning said projectiles to said land-based station. 